Pacific 2012: Co-ordinating a Joint Capability | ADM Dec 2011 / Jan 2012

Comments Comments

Gregor Ferguson | Canberra

The essential context for amphibious warfare was described in Elizabethan times by Sir Francis Bacon: “He that commands the sea is at great liberty, and may take as much and as little of the war as he will.” Consciously or unconsciously, the ADF has started to take this on board. One of the most significant developments was the establishment two years ago of Joint Capability Coordination Division within HQ ADF.

This is the body that has taken the LHDs from a single service project to a truly joint construct and its head, MAJGEN Steve Day, told the seminar the CDF’s intent is that during EX Talisman Sabre 2017 the ADF will embark, deploy, sustain and certify an ADF Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) based on one or, preferably both, of the LHDs. This represent the Full Operational Capability sought by the ADF and it’s not going to be an easy journey.

Some 85 per cent of the ARG’s tasks and missions have already been planned, Day said. The remainder need to be thought out and planned in their turn in order to achieve this FOC milestone.

To concentrate the minds of the joint warfighters present, he put five initial thoughts out to the seminar:

The LHDs will be the single biggest change to the ADF force projection capability since the arrival of the first aircraft carrier, 63 years ago. The LHDs are not a replacement for the old LPA – they are unlike anything else seen in the ADF. As such they are likely to become the resort of first resort in many contingencies.

Cultural change is required across all three services – Naval officers need to be in a position here they can aspire to senior roles as amphibious warfare specialists. Similarly, the RAAF is not a member of the Joint Amphibious Council, nor on the Joint Amphibious Capability Implementation Team (JACIT). Truly Joint attitudes are essential.

Relationships – first, the ADF needs more exchange officers, correctly targeted on key specialisations and skills, across multiple posting cycles. Secondly, the ARG will be a significant step-change in the ADF’s capability and will send a strong message to Australia’s neighbours. The ADF needs to ensure this message isn’t mis-interpreted and must be pro-active in managing its local relationships.

Training – joint, collective training in the control of joint fires and ISR will be essential and it will be a tough challenge for both the uniformed and the simulation communities. A Joint Experimentation program will be revived next year, Day said.

Basing – the current Force Posture Review, undoubtedly shaped by the growing presence of US forces in northern Australia, may change things, but the current plan is that HMAS Choules and the two LHDs will be located in Sydney: they need to be home-ported in the same place so they can benefit from the same industry support base and training infrastructure.

On the issues of basing and training MAJGEN Day also raised the prospect of a Centre of Amphibious Excellence. Should the ADF have one? The UK finds its own centre indispensable – this is at Devonport dockyard where the Navy’s amphibious warfare staff are collocated with the Royal Marines’ own brigade HQ, along with the amphibious ships, Commando Forces’ supporting arms and landing craft. Australia would benefit from establishing a similar centre of excellence and expertise.

comments powered by Disqus